Arts reorganization student townhall Q and A

General questions

Q: Why are we doing this?

A: Reorganization has been a priority in the strategic plans for the Faculty of Arts since 2014. Rather than having 17 departments, each with its own administrative structure and roles, Arts reorganization into six schools will create more effective operations to deliver the range of undergraduate and graduate programming currently offered. The reorganization will enable better collaboration between programs and and supports opportunities for interdisciplinary research and learning in Arts and across campus, such as through Waterloo’s Global Futures strategic vision.  And reorganizing into fewer, larger administrative units brings Arts in line with the other five UW faculties.

Q: How will this benefit students?

A: Many Arts students have interests that sit in more than one discipline The multidisciplinary schools will enable more opportunities for students to engage in interdisciplinary programming and events to explore their interests and prepare for future careers, which increasingly call for diverse skills and knowledge.

School groupings

Q: Why are some schools made up of a single discipline (e.g., Psychology), while others are multidisciplinary?

A: The reorganization working group developed the criteria used for the new school groupings. These considerations included grouping departments with shared programming, existing collaborations, and the number of faculty and enrolled students in the programs. Most schools will now have more balanced numbers of faculty and students. SAF and Stratford were not changed because they are direct-entry programs which is different from other departments and their programs. Economics and Psychology will each become their own schools due to the relative size of their enrollments and programming.

Impacts on plan/program requirements

Q: Will the reorg lead to any cuts to student programs?

A: No. All current disciplines and programs will remain, and students will continue in their current academic plans. The schools structure is designed for agility in supporting programming needs as they evolve. We worked hard to ensure that every program would be in a school with other programs that are similar or complementary. It is important that students know that they can continue to choose from the 28 majors, and the various minors and diplomas that Arts currently offers.

Q: How would this reorg affect completing requirements for majors and minors?

A: Your program requirements will not change. One of the goals of the reorganization is to allow  better coordination of course offerings, which may make it easier for students to complete their plan requirements.

Q: How, if at all, will this impact the Liberal Studies degree program?

A: Liberal Studies is run by Arts Undergraduate Office (AUO) rather than a department and allows students to take courses across Arts majors and minors. Rest assured, we will continue to offer the Liberal Studies major, both online and in-person, and students can expect the same advising support in the AUO.

Q: Will this shift anything for fully remote students?

A: This will not affect the study options for fully remote students. A student may be assigned a new academic advisor if they are majoring in one of the disciplines in the new schools.

AFIW-related questions

Q: What is happening with programs offered by AFIW departments?

A: Programs offered to students through St. Jerome’s, Renison, Conrad Grebel, and United (e.g., Music; Peace and Conflict Studies; Sexualities, Relationships and Families; Social Development Studies) are not directly affected by the Arts reorganization – students can pursue these programs without any changes.

Q: How will this impact students who are co-registered at St. Jerome's? If I do Legal Studies there, am I impacted?

A: The reorganization will not directly impact students co-registered at St. Jerome’s. These students will continue to receive advising support from their SJU academic advisors. Co-registered students will continue to be able to select from all of the same majors and minors, including Legal Studies.

Academic advising

Q: How might the reorg affect academic advising for students?

A:

• Under the reorganization, the two new multidisciplinary schools will have a team of staff focused on student advising.
• Students can expect to receive the same types of advising support, e.g. understanding program requirements, course enrollment, academic progression, and so on.
• Students will receive advance communications about any potential changes in their academic advising contacts.
• The reorganization will create coordinated advising between the schools’ and the Arts Undergraduate Office advising teams.

Access to discipline-specific faculty expertise

Q: If faculty service roles will be reduced in the schools, what steps are being taken to ensure this will not negatively impact students that rely on faculty support during their academic studies? 

A:

• It is true that the reorg will mean fewer professors will serve in formal administrative roles. For example, in the two multidisciplinary schools there will be one associate director of undergraduate studies and one associate director for graduate studies for all programs within that school, whereas previously there were associate chairs undergraduate and graduate for each of the individual majors/programs.
• In the new schools, each major will have an area lead – a faculty member who advises the director, associate directors and staff on matters related to majors in their area.
• Much of the advising support that students previously may have received from their associate chair will now be covered by a team of staff advisors. The advantage of staff advisors is that they specialize in advising, have more day-to-day availability than faculty advisors (who balance advising with teaching and research), and coordinate with advisors across the Faculty and University.

Q: Students are accustomed to getting discipline-specific mentorship from their associate chair. The associate directors will not be experts in all of the disciplines within the multidisciplinary schools. So, who can students turn to for this type of discipline-specific advice?

A: While the school academic advisors will have good general knowledge of courses and opportunities within a discipline, they can also connect students to the area lead and other professors within their discipline who can provide advice related to the student’s interests and goals. Area leads are  responsible for coordinating activities within their discipline and maintaining the cohesion of their discipline within the new schools. These area leads may identify faculty experts who are available and interested in serving in mentoring roles and activities such as information sessions on applying to graduate school.  

Students' relation to school administration

Q: Students are accustomed to being involved in curriculum committees, the chair search process, and other administrative processes within their departments. How will this work in the new schools?

A: We fully expect that students will continue to be  involved in administrative processes in the new schools. For example, student representatives served on the search committees for the new school directors. Also, we expect that schools will set up processes to consult with students for curriculum changes related to their programs.

Q: In many programs the student society is supported by a faculty member, often the associate chair undergraduate, as well as a staff advisor. Who will take on these responsibilities in the new multidisciplinary schools?

A: Each school will now have an Events and Student Engagement Coordinator who will help the student societies with event planning and communication. These are new positions specifically designed to support the student community. Also, although there may not be a faculty member with a formal responsibility for liaising with their discipline’s student society, faculty members may take responsibility for this activity as part of their school-related service.  

Practical impacts – e.g., physical location

Q: Would the reorg impact where classes are held? For example, would the ML building only have Communication and Theatre courses?

A: The reorganization will not impact where classes are held. The “schools” refer to administrative groupings, not physical buildings.

Q: How will I find my advisor and faculty in my program if they are not housed in the location that I’m used to?

 A: In the near term there are no plans to relocate faculty and staff based on the new school groupings. Advance communications about advising and other student supports will include information about how to contact and where to find faculty and staff for a given program.

Transition process

Q: What is the timeline for this reorganization so incoming students can be eased into the structure?

A: The Faculty is currently in a transition period (fall 2025 to spring 2026) for establishing school governance processes, administrative leadership, and staffing roles for the two new schools. Students will be informed well in advance about any changes that impact them directly. For example, if they will be assigned a new academic advisor due to the reorganization then they will be informed at least a month before the transition happens.

Q: How were and are key decisions in the Arts reorganization being made, what criteria are guiding these decisions, who is involved at each stage, how is accountability ensured in a way that students are included and can actually influence outcomes?

A: The decision to reorganize the Arts faculty into a smaller number of administrative units was developed initially by the faculty leadership including department chairs and school directors and members of the Dean’s office. Next, a working group was appointed by the Dean to develop ideas to form the school groupings and outline the proposed administrative structure of the new schools. The proposed schools were approved by a large majority of the Arts faculty and staff and by the Senate and Board of Directors. Subsequently, the Dean’s office has been working with the leadership of the key departments joining together into multidisciplinary schools to develop their structure and governance processes.

Students have input into the schools in a number of ways. For example, student leaders representing the various student societies were consulted when the plans to reorganize into the six schools were developed. Students also were represented on the nominating committees to select the new school directors.

School names

Q: Some students have asked how we decided on the names for the School of Critical and Creative Humanities and the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.

A: The school names was an involved process and current names were chosen collaboratively by members of the units that will join together in the new multidisciplinary schools.  Simpler names were considered but ruled out by the members for a number of reasons (for example, social sciences is not the exclusive domain of one of the multidisciplinary schools).  While not everyone agreed, the members of the schools decided that these names achieved the best balance across the factors they weighed.

The new school names will not be mentioned in recruitment materials – our goal is for prospective students to understand the programs we offer, and to choose the one that is best for them. Recruitment materials will continue to focus on the direct entry programs that students apply to (e.g., AFM, GBDA, Honours Arts, Honours Arts and Business) and a list of the 28 majors they can choose in their second year. Similarly, the school names will not appear on students’ transcripts/degrees. Students’ transcripts and conferred degrees will continue to list their plan type and major(s) and minor(s) and will not feature the school names.